Since social media entered our lives, many films have dealt with it, and almost always in a negative way.
They portrayed Facebook and other networks as the root of all evil.
Their scripts depicted a reality where the heroes were always one click away from losing their money, their dignity, or even their lives.
“Bob Trevino Liked You” goes in a completely different direction.
It presents Facebook as a source of friendship, hope, and redemption.
Screenwriter-director Tracy Lyman did not write it this way by chance.
She did it based on her personal experiences, because in reality, believe it or not, the social network provided her with comfort.
The relationship between Lyman and her father was always unstable, and at some point in her youth, they completely disconnected.
One night, as sometimes happens to us, she decided to reconnect with him and looked for him on Facebook.
She thought she found him and sent a friend request, which he accepted.
There was only one problem: it was not her father, but just someone with the same name.
Yet from this mistake grew a wonderful friendship.
The stranger became a soulmate, a mentor in short, the father she never had. And all thanks to social media.
This charming story can now be seen in the acclaimed film, which is premiering this weekend after receiving excellent reviews in the United States.
Barbie Ferreira, who played Kat in “Euphoria,” portrays the director’s alter ego in the film.
“My collaborators and I always laugh that this is the only positive film about social media,” she says in an interview, conducted over Zoom on the occasion of the film’s release.
“I’m not saying there aren’t bad things on Facebook.
I’m not saying it’s completely safe, and of course I don’t recommend everyone make connections there, but many wonderful things happened to me thanks to friendships that grew there.
Everything happened because a stranger was kind to me, and it shows the power of small gestures like likes or comments online.
If you are suffering from online bullying, a single positive comment can change everything.
This film is a tribute to my personal experiences on social media and the joy I felt through it.
Social media is a tool that can be used for good or bad, and if used for good, small human gestures can have a butterfly effect.
I am proof of that my journey and my healing are proof.”
Beyond Facebook, the film also deals with parenthood, particularly fatherhood.
What is a father to you?
“A father, biological or not, is someone who listens to his children.
Someone who makes them feel seen and heard, that they are safe.
He doesn’t have to be rich, good at sports, or perfect at everything, but he must be there for you.
He must do his best.
Ultimately, the question is do your children feel loved? Do they feel they belong? Do they feel that no matter what, they have a home and a family? Do they feel they matter?”
Do you believe the family you choose can be a real alternative to the family you are born into?
“Yes, absolutely.
Some people are lucky to be born into a family that shares their values, but that doesn’t always happen, and I think you can choose other connections, and they can last a lifetime.
We are not obligated to see only a small group of people as our family.
Essentially, we can see the whole world as potential family and nurture that instead of spending all our energy only on a small group of people we sometimes cannot communicate with, and sometimes have nothing in common with.”
Alongside Ferreira, the film also stars veteran actors, including John Leguizamo as the friendly stranger from Facebook, and French Stewart as the protagonist’s biological father.
I cast from the heart, not the mind,” she says.
I wasn’t looking for actors, I was looking for the right humans. In general, throughout the work on the film, I let my heart lead me. It was the guiding light.”
Lyman was born and raised in Houston, where she still lives, but in her youth moved with her family to Moscow.
“My parents fought terribly, and I would go to Red Square with a copy of ‘The Catcher in the Rye,'” she says.
“I would watch the changing of the guard outside Lenin’s tomb and read this amazing book, which meant so much to me.”
I was a bit surprised you called the film “Bob Trevino Liked You,” because nowadays cinema tends to focus on women’s perspectives and sometimes exaggerate that.
It’s not trivial that you named the film after the stranger from Facebook rather than the protagonist.
“I wanted the film to be feminine, but I also wanted men to feel welcome in it.
I’m against binary thinking that excludes people.
I want to tell men, ‘Come and experience this feminine experience with us.
Come laugh with us, come cry with us.’
In my view, naming the film after Bob is intriguing.
Also, Bob is a partner in the journey.
He contributes in his way to experiences that are very feminine.
He is a role model for other men. My film excludes no one.
Everyone is invited to participate in this experience.”